Challenge #01634-D173: Non-liquid Investment
"If the shoe fits, buy lots of them, and in every colour you like." Fashion advice read somewhere. And it's Oh so true. -- Anon Guest
Finally, they broke into Mlle Arianna's secret vault. They expected jewels. The fortune of five kingdoms. The lost crown of Baba Ganushe.
What they did not expect, once the lights were made to work again, was row after row of shoeboxes. Shelf after shelf of them, all through the cavernous depths of the vault.
Sorted by colour, arranged by style. Every single one of them a perfect fit for the late Mlle Arianna's peculiar feet. Made for comfort and style, a difficult thing to accomplish, considering Mlle Arianna's hammer toe and random arthritic growths. Further, they reduced the apparent bulk of her feet.
"Shoes?" said M'seur Garoche. "There has to be money in here somewhere."
"No," said Miette. "It's all in the shoes."
"What? Like it's concealed in the soles? stitched into the leather?"
"She spent the money on all these shoes. You can't understand. It's easy for you to get shoes you like. For women? We have thousands more options..." Miette picked up a delicate slipper that sparkled delectably in the dim light. It would never fit anyone other than Mlle Arianna. "Unless you have odd feet. She was a public figure. If she wore the same pair of utilitarian loafers, people would have criticised her."
"I understand so far..." offered M'seur Garoche.
"So when she found a shoe that fit, she bought all the stock," Miette gestured around her at the racks upon racks of shoeboxes. "That's where all the money went."
M'seur Garoche swore. "In a form that nobody can exchange..."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / denisov]
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